Even if I, Dai Xiao, were dying of thirst, I would never drink something like this.

What came into view was a striking woman with fair, radiant skin that seemed to glow with a rosy hue.

The acne scars that once marred her complexion had long since vanished, replaced by skin as smooth and flawless as jade.

She had a heart-shaped face, with a few wisps of bangs framing her cheeks, and her high ponytail gave off an aura of a strong, confident woman.

Xu Mu couldn’t help but let out a sigh of admiration—he hadn’t expected this woman to be so beautiful.

Dai Xingluo, seeing this, immediately stepped in front of Fan Shiyu and came over to Xu Mu’s side.

“Brother, what are you doing here?”

Only then did Xu Mu pull his gaze away and explain, “I’m here looking for someone. My friend should be around here, but their fate is uncertain right now.”

“I see,” Dai Xingluo nodded gently, then pointed at Fan Shiyu. “Brother, this woman is bad news. You’d better stay away from her.”

“Whether I’m good or bad isn’t for you to decide,” Fan Shiyu retorted.

She looked at Xu Mu and asked, “My name’s Fan Shiyu. I don’t know yours yet.”

“Oh, I’m Xu Mu,” he answered without hesitation.

At this, Fan Shiyu’s eyes suddenly widened in surprise.

She recalled that this mission involved taking down two people: one was Dai Xiao, and the other was Xu Mu.

But her target here was Dai Xiao.

The organization had only given her Dai Xiao’s photo; she hadn’t yet seen any pictures of Xu Mu.

Could it be that her next target was this man?

No.

It couldn’t be!

There were so many people with the same name—how could it possibly be the man standing right in front of her?

The organization said both targets were spoiled rich brats who deserved to die.

Especially at first, Fan Shiyu had even worn an ugly human-skin mask, yet this man hadn’t looked at her with disdain.

He even offered her some precious water to drink.

How could someone like him be a spoiled rich brat?

“What’s wrong?” Xu Mu noticed Fan Shiyu suddenly froze and asked.

“Ah? Nothing. I just want to thank you for the water,” Fan Shiyu smiled at him. “I’ll help you look for your friend. What does she look like?”

“She’s about your height. If you see a woman as tall as you, tell her Xiao Mu is looking for her. If she can tell you my surname is Xu, then she’s the one I’m after,” Xu Mu said.

After a pause, he added, “If you find her, I’ll give you another bottle of water.”

“I don’t want your pee,” Fan Shiyu waved her hand dismissively.

Xu Mu laughed, “I’m talking about mineral water.”

“What? Brother, you still have water?” Dai Xingluo’s eyes lit up immediately.

“That’s right. I have several bottles. But this place is a war zone—everyone’s fighting over water, so I hid some away,” Xu Mu said, glancing at Dai Xingluo. “But this water’s my lifeline. I’m not handing it out for free.”

“Xu Mu, I’ll go help you find her!” Fan Shiyu’s figure vanished, but one thing she didn’t say was that she was going to kill.

This woman had gotten separated from Dai Xiao, making it the perfect chance to take him down.

Seeing Fan Shiyu leave, Dai Xingluo grabbed Xu Mu’s arm and shook it playfully, “Brother~”

“Cut it out!” he snapped.

Xu Mu glanced lightly at Dai Xingluo, already feeling the tension radiating from her in front, and said, “I was very clear before—I don’t like violent women.”

“That woman just now wasn’t violent either. Why did you give her water?”

Dai Xingluo pouted slightly.

Xu Mu looked toward the direction Fan Shiyu had left and asked, “Was she violent? I didn’t see it.”

“She wanted to kill Dai Xiao! You probably don’t know Dai Xiao, but he is…”

“I know him! Why would she want to kill Dai Xiao?”

Xu Mu interrupted Dai Xingluo out of curiosity.

“Judging by Dai Xiao’s expression, he probably doesn’t know her. Maybe Dai Xiao offended someone, and she was a hired assassin.”

Dai Xingluo thought for a moment and guessed.

Hearing this, Xu Mu’s heart leapt with joy—he had roughly figured it out.

If nothing unexpected happened, it was Feng Kang who had hired the assassin.

If Xu Mu knew Dai Xiao was here too, he planned to take him out and then frame the Feng family.

Now that the Feng family had indeed hired a killer, Xu Mu definitely couldn’t act openly. Instead, he would let the assassin kill Dai Xiao.

He intended to make this scenario a reality.

Originally, Xu Mu’s plan was to get the Feng family and Dai Xiao to turn on each other.

“I can’t waste time here. I still have people to find.”

Xu Mu pulled his arm free from Dai Xingluo’s embrace.

“I’ll help you look! If I find someone, you owe me two bottles of water—I want more than that woman!”

Dai Xingluo said to Xu Mu.

“Alright, I promise.”

Xu Mu nodded.

Dai Xingluo smiled before disappearing into the forest.

After confirming through his senses that no one was within two hundred meters, Xu Mu took out a bottle of mineral water and drank half of it.

He had been so focused on talking to them that his mouth was dry.

“Xu Ningbing!”

Xu Mu continued calling out into the surroundings.

After walking a little further, Xu Mu spotted someone sitting under the shade of a tree.

It was Dai Xiao.

His lips were dry and peeling, and he looked exhausted.

Xu Mu thought to himself that Dai Xiao was lucky—Fan Shiyu had left too early.

“Xu Mu! Are you Xu Mu?”

Dai Xiao spotted Xu Mu and immediately propped himself up against the tree. “Do you have water? Give me a bottle, I’ll pay you a million!”

He was too tired to care why Xu Mu was here; all he wanted was to drink.

“My water’s all gone. Now I only have urine. Want some?”

Xu Mu took some things out of his backpack. “Ten thousand is enough!”

“Damn it! Who do you think you’re insulting? Even if I, Dai Xiao, were to die of thirst, I wouldn’t drink that stuff!” Dai Xiao scolded angrily.

“Suit yourself.”

Xu Mu packed his things back up and, through his senses, confirmed Fan Shiyu was not nearby.

He could only sigh that Dai Xiao had temporarily escaped death.

Xu Mu didn’t linger and continued searching the area.

…

After another two hours, Xu Mu had crossed from one side of the dense fog over the mountain peak to the other.

Still no sign of Xu Ningbing.

The sun had already disappeared, and the temperature dropped a bit.

But the cold didn’t relieve anyone’s thirst—in fact, as time passed, the thirst only grew worse.

Darkness was falling.

Suddenly, Xu Mu noticed a golden light shining on a distant hillside.

He pondered for a moment, then immediately hurried in that direction.

As he got closer, he realized that besides himself, there were about a dozen others here.

Judging by the scene, the others were probably drawn by the glow.

Xu Mu stared ahead and noticed a stalk of wheat growing from a crack in the rocks.

But the wheat was golden in color—the light just now was coming from this stalk flickering.

Xu Mu was secretly startled: an eighth-grade Golden Divine Wheat.

This thing was incredibly rare, its effects rivaling even ninth-grade heavenly materials and earthly treasures.

Its use was simple, similar to the Blood Yam.

On the verge of breaking through, he realized his qi was just a bit short—he could take it directly to force a breakthrough.

However, the Golden Divine Wheat could be used by even stronger masters.

If a powerful alchemist could fully unleash its effects, the medicinal potency would rise several levels.

“Sit tight. This kind of thing isn’t for you to take,”

a bald old man wearing sunglasses said coolly, standing there as he casually scanned the surroundings.

Several corpses already lay beside him.

“Xu Mu.”

Fan Shiyu also noticed the glow appearing here.

Xu Mu gave Fan Shiyu a slight nod, then looked around.

He saw that everyone here was severely dehydrated, lacking any vitality.

Some were already lying on the ground, their minds stopped, ready to face death.

Fan Shiyu glanced toward the bald old man—he was the one who had stolen her water before.

But the man was too powerful to confront directly.

“Xu Mu... do you still have any urine left?”

At that moment, a hoarse voice came from afar.

Xu Mu turned his head and saw it was Dai Xiao, whom he had encountered earlier.